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Thursday, July 31, 2008

I’ve been sitting quietly, waiting for the whitesox.com front page to refresh. I moved onto Yahoo. ESPN. You name it, I’ve refreshed it. There seems to be no news about the big news. “Just a few more minutes until the deadline is up and I can post this or make changes,” I’ve been thinking to myself.

The big news? Ken Griffey Jr. has been traded from the Cincinnati Reds to the White Sox in exchange for relief pitcher Nick Masset and Charlotte second baseman Danny Richar. I’ve been bombarded all morning by comments, questions, messages, texts, and the occasional email. “GRIFFEY TO WHITE SOX!”

So, there you go, that’s Kenny William’s (The Trade Ninja, as the fellas at LifeInTheCell call him) surprise move. He’s been quoted over and over saying he’s not looking to make a move, there’s nothing we need, no pitching that’s attainable. And, I’ll give it to him, this is definitely a surprise. Not what I expected. Not what anyone expected. And maybe not in a good way. When the news broke, before clicking on the article to back the headline, my thoughts immediately went to Crede, Fields, and Uribe, who were the big names thrown around in the great big bag ‘what we can move.’ My next thought, upon finding out about Masset’s departure, was how it was possible for the Sox to give up a pitcher when a pitcher was what we seemed to be shopping around for. And after reading the article, whose author suggested that Griffey would bump Swish toward more time on 1B, and Konerko toward more time on the bench, the accountant that lives in my brain started to tally something. “Carlos Quentin, Jermayne Dye, Nick Swisher, Ken Griffey Jr, Brian Anderson, Dewayne Wise.” Correct me if I’m wrong, but that adds up to 6 outfielders. Most teams have 4, and we have just acquired a 6th. Now, move on over to Griffey’s profile. 38 years old. Hitting .245, 15 HR, 50something RBI, 5 erorrs, etc. So what do we have so far? Gave up someone unexpected? Check. Gave up pitching while looking for pitching? Check. Overcrowding the OF? Check. Getting someone at the end of his career when Kenny is famous for finding untapped, budding talent? Check.

So, you must understand my hesitation to report anything. There must be something else. Another part of the deal that won’t be reported for another few minutes. Maybe this means Swish is being moved back to the A’s for Street. Why else would Williams look for another slugger when we have an entire team swinging for the fences? To replace a departing one, surely. If not, what are the changes that will be made? Will Wise be sent back to Charlotte (Again?) or will it be Anderson’s time to move on? After all, just a few days ago, when talking about the possibility of Konerko being benched, he said, “Who would I put in CF?... Brian? Hello?!” I’m sure that hurt Blondie’s feelings quite a bit. But, no. The trade line has officially passed and that is all. No new pitchers, no new utility infielders, Kenny dropped just one big bomb. Jerseys with “#17, Griffey” are being produced en-masse, ticket sales and mass happiness-induced chaos to ensue! Your thoughts?

Stay tuned for any updates due to any news lag. For now, Welcome Griffey!